Goducate … Go And Educate! – Page 19 – Helping Asians Help Themselves

2019-12-232020-02-03

Goducate visits earthquake victims in Mindanao, Philippines

The most recent series of earthquakes that hit the Philippines on Nov 16, 30 and 31 left North Cotabato, a province in the northern part of the Island of Mindanao (the second largest group of islands in the country), in shambles.

Some of the houses were newly built but none escaped the earthquake

On Dec 5, five Goducate Philippines staff, in partnership with Sultan Kudarat Association, visited Barangay Buenavista in the Municipality of Makilala, in North Cotabato. Barangay Buenavista is one of the 38 barangays (villages) in Makilala. 20,704 families (some 103,520 persons) reside in the Municipality of Makilala, where the earthquakes eroded more than 200 hectares of land.

The visiting group had first to get a clearance pass from the Makilala Incident Management Team before proceeding to the relocation site. The specific relocation site that the group visited was housing about 150 families from Sitios Lapu-Lapu and Rizal. The relocation site is a private property owned by a businessman who generously allowed his rubber plantation to be occupied by those whose houses were destroyed by the earthquake.

The classes have resumed in tents like this in Barangay Buenavida, Makilala, North Cotabato

The local elementary school in Barangay Buenavida was also destroyed by the earthquake, so the teachers and the remaining students resumed classes in makeshift classrooms made of tents in the same relocation site. According to the teachers, only about 120 of the more than 200 pupils have remained. The rest had left North Cotabato out of fear that the earthquake might hit the province once again.

During the relief operations, lunch was served, and packed goods were given following the master list of the households registered in the relocation site. As a stress-debriefing procedure, the Goducate staff together with the partners from Sultan Kudarat Association facilitated games for the children and adults, separately.

The names were called out for the goods according to the masterlist given by the Makilala Incident Management Team

*Our guest writer is Carmela Damaso, a Goducate staff member in Iloilo.

2019-12-102019-12-16

Goducate Training Center in Iloilo is a regional winner in 2019 Search for Outstanding Volunteers

Camp Goducate Phils., Inc. (also known as Goducate Training Center Iloilo) has been named one of the regional winners in the 2019 Search for Outstanding Volunteers (SOV). The selection was made on Nov 22, 2019, during the 4th Quarter Meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC), at The Venue, San Jose, Antique.

The Search for Outstanding Volunteers Regional Search Committee (SOV-RSC) is headed by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region VI, together with the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordination Agency (PNVSCA). The search is done every December by the PNVSCA, together with the National Volunteer Month Steering Committee and the SOV-RSCs, in line with the celebration of National Volunteer Month. It aims to promote volunteerism as a tool for development by virtue of Republic Act No. 9418 or the Volunteer Act of 2007.

Antique Governor and RDC-VI Chairperson Rhodora J. Cadiao, together with NEDA-VI Regional Director and RDC-VI Vice Chairperson, Ro-Ann A. Bacal, awarded plaques of recognition to Goducate, as well as to two other organizations and three individuals for their exemplary performance and achievements in empowering communities and promoting volunteerism as a way of life, thus contributing to nation-building.

Since 2012, Goducate Training Center Iloilo has trained and housed over 300 volunteers who now serve all over the Philippines and Asia. The proceeds of its 11.2 hectare resort located in Barangay Sto. Angel, San Miguel, Iloilo go to community-development projects in poor villages in the country. Thus, it has recently been dubbed “Resort with a Heart”.

True to its tagline “Go and Educate”, Goducate Training Center will continue its pursuit as a non-government organization in Iloilo that provides training and community-development programs and projects for the youth and various sectors to develop group after group of Asian leaders in the 21st century. In the coming years, it aims to help and empower people in all of the barangays (villages) of the Philippines.

Goducate representatives receiving the award

*Our guest writer is a community-development trainer.

2019-11-222019-11-25

Community Pangil, Laguna, learn about leadership, drug addiction, and premarital sex

Last month, Goducate Laguna held a Student Leadership Program at Pangil, a municipality in Laguna. The one-and-a half-day event, held in partnership with Pangil’s Youth Organization, covered not only leadership training but also education about pre-marital sex and illegal drugs.

We believe that leadership training is important for students because they are the next generation that will be leading the nation.

The event was attended by 34 community people on the first day. On the second day there were 40 community people, some of whom had come from other communities. The community people were mainly teenagers attending elementary and secondary school.

Users of illegal drugs in the Philippines are getting younger and younger, and it is important that the students are made aware of how use of these drugs can destroy their futures and ruin their lives and families.

Pre-marital sex is also a worrying issue in the Philippines. Data collated by the Philippines Statistics Authority show that over a third of Filipinos aged 15-24 have engaged in pre-marital sex, and that most of them do not use any form of protection.

The sessions consisted of presentations and discussions. These were followed by recounting of stories of Marvel Comics wizards Nico and Tina, and playing games related to the topics of drug addiction and pre-marital sex. More small-group discussions ensued, during which the students shared their stories, problems and struggles.